


The Girl Who Watches Birds

by kiwisandwich (panconkiwi)



Series: A Feather Tale [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Birds, Fluff, Gen, Platonic Kissing, Yachi is a bird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 17:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4188951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panconkiwi/pseuds/kiwisandwich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A prologue.</p><p>On a rainy day, where nothing went like it should have, Shimizu Kiyoko helped a little bird back to health.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl Who Watches Birds

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prologue for something bigger.
> 
> But for now, it's just the story of a girl and a bird.
> 
> (I wrote this on my own, but neither me nor my beta are native English speakers. If there are any mistakes, I'd appreciate greatly if you told me!)

At first, Kiyoko just stood there and watched. Not because she didn’t know what to do, it’s just that the situation made no sense whatsoever.

Okay, maybe one thing did make sense: some cats were trying to eat a bird.

But then again…

It wasn’t two or three cats, but a glaring, and they were ganging up on a single finch.

In February. Finches weren’t supposed to arrive into the city until the end of March.

And it was _pouring_.

Then, the finch’s shriek of fear brought Kiyoko back to her senses, and she put those thoughts aside to help the little bird.

She knew not to run. Cats liked to play with their prey for a while before killing it, and having one of them get scared and hold onto the bird wouldn’t do any good. But even under the noise of the droplets falling to the ground, her steps were loud, and it didn’t take much for the cats to notice her approach. Suddenly, she found herself under the glare of a dozen pair of eyes.

But she wasn’t going back now. Kiyoko stood firm in her place.

“Go away.”

And, as easy as that, they all left.

It just wasn’t making any sense.

The bird was left on the spot, curled up on itself and shivering. Kiyoko leaned down and carefully placed a hand above it, but the poor thing was in such a state of shock that it didn’t even try to run away; she picked it up and held it against her chest to protect it from the cold.

Her home was a couple blocks away, she hoped they would make it.

 

* * *

 

“ _Any blood stains at sight?_ ”

“Nothing.”

“ _What about the wings? Are they broken?_ ”

“No, I checked. Everything seems to be fine on that aspect, and I don’t think there are any internal injuries either.”

“ _I see, but you told me it hasn’t moved since-_ ”

“She.”

“ _... Excuse me?_ ”

“It’s a female.”

“ _Oh! I stand corrected, then,_ ” by now, the receptionist of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center was used to those remarks. Most people didn’t know that much about birds to tell males and females apart, but Kiyoko was an aficionado. She’d had called in regards of an injured animal countless times before, and Sugawara, the man on the phone, practically knew it was her from the number on the receiver. “ _Well, Shimizu, it seems your finch is just shocked by the recent attack. I’d give you some tips on how to take care for her, but, as always, it seems you already have everything covered._ ”

When they got home, Kiyoko immediately looked all around the house for the necessary materials to build an emergency nest. A shoe box, some pieces of cloth and a bag of leftover bird seeds from last year’s bird watching camp. She dried the finch as much as she could before putting her inside, and then left the box in a safe spot close to the fireplace.

“ _Just leave her on her own to calm down and make sure to keep her warm so she can recover from the soaking, then you can set her free after the rain stops._ ”

“I’ll do that. Thanks for your help, Sugawara.”

“ _Thank you for calling…,_ ” there was a pause. Kiyoko could hear some small talk going in the background, and then he asked, “ _Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know the exact species of the bird?_ ”

She answered without skipping a bit, “ _Carduelis spinus._ ”

The attendant laughed. “ _An eurasian siskin, then. Thank you, and have a good night._ ”

Kiyoko put the phone down and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She had already known the finch was going to be fine, but she made it an habit of calling the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center whenever an injured bird made it her way. You could never be too careful. Besides, she was hoping for the attendant to comment on the peculiar time of the year this little bird choose to come to the city.

She was greeted by the sound of peeping. The finch was supposed to fell asleep after being put in the dark, but having her awake wasn’t bad either; at least it meant she was getting over the shock. Kiyoko walked towards the box and opened it slightly to take a peek, and that’s when the bird pushed the lid off and flew away.

Crap!

Kiyoko followed her all around the room, trying to catch her with a hand and holding the box in the other. The finch followed the light that came from the window and flew straight into the glass. There was a thump, and Kiyoko barely got the box to soften the fall of the poor bird.

There was a small peep. It sounded kinda confused.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t leave yet.”

The finch peered over the box’s wall into the window, where the drops had already covered its surface. Kiyoko then tried to grab the bird, but she jumped at the contact and batted her wings in an attempt to run away, which got her to the questionably-enough distance of the other corner of the box. Kiyoko got what she wanted, though: the bird was still cold.

“You are going back to the fireplace,” she said as she put the lid back on. The bird peeped in protest, but Kiyoko was relentless.

The rest of the night went by nicely. Kiyoko made dinner, checked her mail, watched some tv, all while constantly checking on the bird, this time holding on the lid more firmly. She was slowly regaining body warmth, and Kiyoko was glad to see some of the food she put in there was gone. But the finch refused to sleep, and Kiyoko was getting worried. The peeping was getting louder, too.

“Be quiet.”

And quiet she was not.

To be honest, Kiyoko wasn’t really expecting her to obey.

“It’s still pouring outside, you’ll get soaked.”

There was a small silence after that, but it didn’t last. The finch just kept on peeping and peeping.

“Do you want to get out of that box that badly?”

_“Peep!”_

“But you can’t leave my house.”

_“Peep.”_

“Or the fireplace, you are still cold.”

_“... Peep!”_

Was she really having a conversation with this bird?

She took the lid off. The finch stared at her with wide eyes, and then, with a little jump, perched herself at the edge of the box. What a cute bird. “Okay, you can stay like this if you want, but if you try to fly away again…”

The finch cocked her head to the side.

“And when you finally decide to sleep, you are going back to the box. Understood?”

_“Peep!”_

“Good.”

Kiyoko left the bird in the living room and went back to do her own stuff.

 

* * *

 

It was almost midnight and the bird refused to go to sleep.

Kiyoko was on the couch near the fireplace, reading a book on songbirds. Rise with the sun, go to bed with the moon. According to all laws of nature, the finch should be asleep, but the little girl just kept jumping and flying all around the room.

She wasn’t avoiding Kiyoko, though. It didn’t let her pick her up, but neither did she fly away when she got too close. And now, it was standing on the arm of the couch.

“I’m trying to figure you out,” said Kiyoko. There was a drawing in the book of two siskins in a branch; both of them showed yellow, grayish-green and white plumage, but the arrangement of the male was bright, while the female’s was more opaque. Kiyoko pointed to the second one. “Look, this is you.”

The finch flew from the armrest into the book, perching herself on the side. She took a peek of the drawing and plumped up her feathers.

“Where’s your flock? Isn’t it courtship season? According to this, you should be in Indonesia, surrounded by male siskins eager to have you as their pair.”

The finch tipped her head to Kiyoko, blinked a couple times, and then flew back to the armrest.

“You must think I’m crazy, talking with a bird…”

 _“Peep!”_ That was a yes, probably.

“Would you believe me if I told you this isn’t the first time?”

_“Peep?”_

“Yeah.”

Sometimes, she got lonely. It wasn’t as if Kiyoko didn’t have any friends, she had met lots of wonderful people working at the library and in the birdwatchers club. It was nice having someone to talk about her unusual interests, but even then she couldn’t voice her thoughts without fear of being judged.

“How does it feel to fly?” She asked to no one in particular.

The finch took flight and landed on Kiyoko’s shoulder.

_“Peep peep!”_

Oh my God.

_This is adorable._

Carefully, so as not to scare the bird away, Kiyoko took her phone and snapped a picture of the finch in her shoulder. The little girl was making herself comfortable in the folds of her sweater, and Kiyoko didn’t have the heart to move anymore.

Curled up on the couch, with a finch nesting right next to her neck, Kiyoko fell asleep.

She dreamt of flying.

 

* * *

 

The alarm on her phone went off at 5:30 am. Kiyoko felt her throat a bit hoarse, realizing she had caught a cold. The fireplace must have extinguished somewhen in the night, leaving her to the harshness of the winter morning. She hoped the finch was alright-

The finch!

Kiyoko stayed still, reaching for her shoulder with a hand and… finding it empty.

She got up and looked all around the cushions for any sign of the bird, but there wasn’t a single feather at sight. She made her way to the fireplace and the shoe box as quickly as she could, and there- she found the finch, sleeping.

Kiyoko let go of her breath in relief.

She petted the bird lightly, taking care of not waking her up. She was warm and breathing evenly.

The rain had stopped, too.

 

* * *

 

Kiyoko didn’t leave for work until the first lights of morning shined across the street. The finch was wide awake in her palm, waiting patiently for her to open the door. The fresh air washed all over them with cruelty, but the bird’s only thought was the freedom in front of her.

The finch spread her wings and took flight into the rising sun.

And then, it came back.

Kiyoko looked down to her in confusion. “Don’t you want to go home?”

But the finch wasn’t done with her yet. Standing in Kiyoko’s hand, she inflated her small chest, opened her beak… and sang.

It was a short piece, no more than ten seconds. Kiyoko recognised the melody in the countless mornings of spring she had lived. It was the announcement of a new day full of expectations and good wishes, of a life that awaited to be lived.

And it was a promise, too.

When she was done, the bird jumped twice on the spot, and Kiyoko took at as a sign to raise her hand and the bird closer to her. Once she was on the same level as Kiyoko’s face, the finch jumped forward and gave her a small peck on the lips.

Then, now for real this time, she took flight and got lost in the treetops.

Kiyoko took a hand to her mouth and smiled lightly.

It was going to be a good day.

 

* * *

 

The cold morning breeze was like a slap after spending the night under the embrace of the fireplace’s warmth. What a wonderful thing! Fire had always been an unpredictable threat for her and her family, but the way humans could exploit it like that, without fear of it burning down everything that was dear to them, was still something she had to get used to.

She’d better hurry, though. The others were probably freaking out by then, trying to figure out where she had gone in the middle of-

“HITOKA-CHAN!!!”

And she found herself knocked mid flight by a blurry spot of black and orange, straight into the ground. _Ouch!_

“HITOKA-CHAN ARE YOU HURT WHAT HAPPENED WHY DID YOU LEAVE WHO WAS THAT HUMAN WE WERE SO WORRIED AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA DIE AND THAT WE HAD LOST YOU **FOREVER**.”

“I’m fine! It’s okay, Shouyou-kun, I just got caught up in the rain,” she made a pained noise and finally the brambling took the hint to get off her. “Don’t worry anymore about me, and please don’t talk about my death, for forest's sake.” She didn’t mention the cat attack because Shouyou was already this anxious for her, and honestly, Hitoka didn’t want to remember it either.

Shouyou’s feathers were all ruffled now. It was supposed to be intimidating, but songbirds rarely managed a look that wasn’t just cute or extra cute. “How do you expect me to not-worry? You were missing for an entire night! In winter!! Ittetsu-sensei was panicking, and if it wasn’t by that phone call I wouldn’t have found you at all!”

“Oh, forest! Ittetsu-sensei! Where is he now? Do we have time for the last lesson before the opening ceremony?”

“Yeah, it’s still early, but we need to get going NOW!”

In a blink, he had left the ground and now was standing on a nearby branch. Hitoka followed suit.

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

Shouyou gave her a peck. “You know I always come!”

Together, they made their way back to their teacher.

“By the way,” said Shouyou, “that promise just know, was it you?”

“Um, yes!”

“Of what?”

She thought of the human. Hitoka owed her life to her, if she hadn’t come to her rescue back then…

Hitoka hoped she could see her again someday and thank her properly.

“Of repay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hitoka-chan is an eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus/Carduelis spinus)
> 
> Shouyou-kun is a brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
> 
> Both are passerine birds in the family of Fringillidae, commonly known as finches.
> 
> [Comission info.](http://panconkiwi.tumblr.com/post/154558359169/you-can-see-examples-of-my-english-work-here)


End file.
